Herodotus Quotes
-
This king Sesostris divided the land among all Egyptians so as to give each one a quadrangle of equal size and to draw from each his revenues, by imposing a tax to be levied yearly. But everyone from whose part the river tore anything away, had to go to him to notify what had happened; he then sent overseers who had to measure out how much the land had become smaller, in order that the owner might pay on what was left, in proportion to the entire tax imposed. In this way, it appears to me, geometry originated, which passed thence to Hellas.
-
It is the greatest and the tallest of trees that the gods bring low with bolts and thunder. For the gods love to thwart whatever is greater than the rest. They do not suffer pride in anyone but themselves.
-
Many exceedingly rich men are unhappy, but many middling circumstances are fortunate.
-
If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.
-
The worst part a man can suffer is to have insight into much and power over nothing.
-
Haste in every business brings failures.
-
And now for the vapor-bath: on a framework of three sticks, meeting at the top, they stretch pieces of woolen cloth, taking care to get the joints as perfect as they can, and inside this little tent they put a dish with red-hot stones in it. Then they take some hemp seed, creep into the tent, and throw the seed on to the hot stones. At once it begins to smoke, giving off a vapor unsurpassed by any vapor-bath one could find in Greece. The Sythians enjoy it so much that they howl with pleasure. This is their substitute for an ordinary bath in water, which they never use.
-
The Scythians take kannabis seed, creep in under the felts, and throw it on the red-hot stones. It smolders and sends up such billows of steam-smoke that no Greek vapor bath can surpass it. The Scythians howl with joy in these vapor-baths, which serve them instead of bathing, for they never wash their bodies with water.
-
I am bound to tell what I am told, but not in every case to believe it.
-
All of life is action and passion, and not to be involved in the actions and passions of your time is to risk having not really lived at all.
-
Love of honor is a very shady sort of possession.
-
The wooden wall alone should remain unconquered.
-
God does not suffer presumption in anyone but himself.
-
Adversity has the effect of drawing out strength and qualities of a man that would have laid dormant in its absence.